What is astroturfing, exactly?

Astroturfing is a political tactic designed to present a specific, often corporate agenda as the will of the public. The term itself is a play on words, acknowledging that these campaigns are basically fake grassroots movements.

Now that we’re in an election, let’s keep an eye out for use of this term, not to mention advocacy campaigns that stink of it. We could start with this, for example, even though the question of its legitimacy is largely up in the air.